Marcie Mir
Nominating Organization: Halliburton
Occupation: CEO, El Centro de Corazon
For more than 20 years, Marcie has worked tireless to improve the health care for Houston’s East End. In her time leading El Centro de Corazon, low-income families who are medically underserved and uninsured in Houston’s East End now have access to four health centers and a comprehensive range of pediatric and adult health care services which includes primary care, women’s health, dental care, and behavioral health services. Her work started as a counselor to young girls who needed guidance and a role model to see beyond the poverity of their lives. Her work blossomed into providing vital services to families who would otherwise not have affordable, available healthcare.
Marcie’s strong leadership and compassion drives El Centro de Corazon’s mission to provide comprehensive health care services to thousands of low-income, medically underserved children and adults. Her commitment to serving others has resulted in the robust expansion of healthcare services in Houston’s East End that now includes both medical and mental health services.
What has always set Marcie apart is her compassion, her loyalty and her drive. Anyone who knows Marcie – whether professionally or through her personal life – will vouch for her unique character and kind soul. These attributes make sense when you look at her life work in the Houston East End. Because she cares so deeply about the thousands of families who have no insurance and or financial means for quality healthcare, she has tackled so many challenges to make sure these people have the same access to comprehensive medical and mental services as anyone else. But beyond the challenges in her work life, she faced her most difficult obstacle this winter when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She handled the news with the same grace and determination that she handles everything. Fortunately, she was able to complete all necessary treatment over a span of 6 months – even in the middle of the Covid pandemic. Unfortunately, because of the quarantine, her family couldn’t be by her side during the treatments or when she finally rang the bell to signify the end of her treatments. But that didn’t dampen her spirit or her resolve to beat the cancer. She knows her 12-year old daughter Olivia needs her mom and her work in the Houston East End is not finished – she fought courageously from the time of her diagnosis to the final bell ringing. She is a true hero.